A MAN wished emergency control room operators "a very merry Christmas" during a spree of hoax calls.
Mark Rainey, 48, called the emergency services after a friend he had been drinking with at his home collapsed. An ambulance arrived and his friend was taken to hospital.
Rainey, of Dear Street, Market Rasen, made at least 10 more calls to both the 999 emergency and 101 non-emergency number between 9.31pm on November 26 and 2.35am on November 27 last year.
Lincoln Magistrates' Court heard that in one exchange, Rainey wished everyone in the control room a merry Christmas.
He pleaded guilty to persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety.
Prosecuting, Jim Clare said: "He was very drunk and incoherent."
Mitigating, Andy Kerrigan said he used 999 "in a sensible way" at first.
Rainey was given a 12-month community order with a six-month alcohol treatment requirement. He was ordered to pay £40 costs and a £60 victims' surcharge.
